


It Wasn't a Fight

by Jaromo99



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:47:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28281906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaromo99/pseuds/Jaromo99
Summary: Ronan gets injured during ~sexy times~ leading to an ER visit and a very awkward family lunch.
Relationships: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 7
Kudos: 147





	It Wasn't a Fight

**Author's Note:**

> More information on the extent of his injury in the end note, if you need that!  
> Rating is for the non-explicit sex at the beginning. If you make it through the first four chapters, you're golden.
> 
> I also didn't edit, so if there's anything very wrong, let me know. I also want to apologize to anyone who knows shit about like medical stuff and all that. I do not. At all.

Ronan isn’t able to tell if Adam is _actually_ comfortable talking about sex or if Ronan is just so _uncomfortable_ talking about it that Adam seemed comfortable by comparison. Adam, however, is a strong believer in the scientific method and sex is no exception. No matter how awkward Ronan found the beginning of these conversations, the prospect of Adam’s experiments always kept Ronan interestested regardless of how passive Ronan would try to pretend to be. Through a combination of these conversations and Adam’s growing comfort level in asking for what he wants, they’ve gotten a little more aggressive. Grips have gotten tighter, fingernails dig in a little further, teeth used a bit more. 

The latest experiment; biting. More specifically, Ronan biting Adam, giving him that _little bit more_ he wanted. 

That led to this, now. 

Adam knelt on the bed, forehead against the wall with hands spread out on the bed to give him more stability. The feeling of Ronan’s hand _on him_ , fingertips ghosting over him while the momentum of each thrust pushes him forward. They were both very, very close. The ability to form words had long since disappeared. Ronan always took it as a personal challenge to make sure Adam got off first and today he didn’t seem to be a fan of deviating from that challenge. Adam pressed his face harder against the wall, causing the slightest wrinkle in his skin to pull taut right at the junction of his shoulder and his neck. Suddenly it looked extremely tempting, and hey, if it's what Adam wants, who is Ronan to refuse? 

As he dug his teeth into the muscle Adam gasped, his breath picking up impossibly faster. Liking the response he got he dragged his teeth against the back of his neck to the other side where he bit down even harder then before. Adam threw his head back in an act of sheer pleasure. Then. _Crunch._

Ronan pulled back before he even registered what happened. The series of swift motions that followed ended with Ronan, one leg under him, several feet away from Adam with hands cupped over his face and Adam, now turned around, was absolutely mortified. As much as Ronan loved Adam’s face, he didn’t like that particular expression. “That good, huh?”

Adam’s face grew even tighter, a mix of the mortification and new concern, but instead of moving forward toward Ronan like he expected, he clasped his hands together on his knee. “I’m-” he cut himself off as a drop of blood fell through Ronan’s fingers, “you’re bleeding.”

“No shit, really? Fuck, thanks for telling me.” Ronan kept his eyes on Adam’s face, waiting for the expression to soften with Ronan’s jokes, but it didn’t. Instead he got up and left the bed to head to the bathroom, coming back quickly with a roll of toilet paper. Adam started to unroll part of it, wrapping a few layers around his hand. Ronan bypassed this and brought the roll straight up to his nose. 

“Don’t waste it,” Adam chastised, but his tone wasn’t right. 

“I bought it.” Ronan tried to keep his voice light in an attempt to calm Adam down, but the bubble of blood in his throat garbled his words. Adam jumped back up from where he’d sat down and started collecting clothes from wherever they landed earlier that evening, putting his on as he went and throwing Ronan’s on the bed next to him. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Well, it _looked like_ Adam was getting ready to leave.

“Just chill out a minute. We can finish in a few minutes.” 

Adam’s expression finally shifted, this time to something between anger and shock. It wasn’t much better, but at least it was different. “Are you serious?” Adam didn’t close his mouth completely after he asked that, only lending more of the anger-slash-shock expression. “I don’t- I don’t fucking _care_ if we finish.” He pulled his shirt on. “Actually, I do care. I hurt you, we can’t just-”

Ronan laughed and he felt a pop in his throat. “Wasn’t pain part of the deal? It’s not like you did anything wrong.”

Adam just collected the clothes that he’d thrown on the bed to get them closer to Ronan. “No. Don’t start on that. I can’t. I can’t do that.” He stepped back, bringing his hands up to his chest. “Get dressed.” Ronan did nothing to hide his confusion. “To go to the ER.” Ronan started to argue with him, but Adam stopped him. “No, not optional. You’re hurt, _I hurt you_. I promised I wouldn’t hurt you again, but I did. You probably have a concussion and a broken nose. Get dressed.” He left into the hallway before Ronan had a chance to fight back. 

In Ronan’s mind there were two options that warred with one another. Option one: Refuse to go. It was the more reasonable option. They’d ask questions, say stupid things. He’d been hurt much worse before without ever seeking medical care. He didn’t need to receive any kind of medical care. Option two: deal with the hell that is the hospital, deal with the doctors, deal with the memories of his last hospital stay, deal with the increased likelihood of Declan finding out because of the bill on his insurance. Option one seemed a lot better, but Ronan was an _adult, goddammit_ , and adults took their partner’s feelings into account. If he didn’t go, Adam would forgive him, but there was no telling how much longer it would take him to forgive himself. At least then he’d get to rub it in Adam’s face when they confirmed that there’s nothing wrong with him.

As appealing as option one was, option two seemed like the smarter choice. 

When did he get so lame?

****

The woman at the check in seemed irritated that Ronan’s bloody toilet paper roll was dripping blood all over the floor. Ronan refused to trade it for something less leaky and refused to sit down and stay still, leaving a trail across most of the room in the same pattern as his pacing, and the woman refused to put him higher up on the list. So they were at a stalemate. 

Finally someone came out to get him. Adam didn’t have time to ask if he wanted him to come with before Ronan grabbed his hand and dragged him along. The person (nurse? doctor?) didn’t seem at all phased by it, so it was evidently not uncommon. She pulled them into a room with three walls, the front was blocked off by a curtain that she closed once they were all inside. 

After unsuccessfully trying to get him to sit down on the end of the cot, Adam got him to sit in a chair next to it. She checked all the normal stuff, disposed of his toilet paper roll, and looked at his eyes, face, and nose. “So, tell me what happened.”

Ronan glared at her, then glanced at Adam, then back at her. “I hit my face.”

“I can see that. I mean how did it happen?” She was sitting in a rolling chair at a computer at the entrance of the room. Adam was still in his chair, but Ronan had stood up and was just standing there. Ronan kept looking to Adam, but he didn’t look like he planned on helping out at all, but Ronan also didn’t want to give any extra information. She looked between the two of them. “Perhaps if we spoke alone?”

“No, he didn’t do anything,” Ronan said immediately. He sent a significant look at Adam, desperately hoping that he would understand the intention.

Adam sighed. “He hit his face on the back of my head. I’m fine, but he’s been gushing blood for twenty minutes and looks like...that.”

Ronan didn’t know what ‘like that’ meant, but he assumed it had something to do with the thumping feeling in his forehead. The woman on the other hand, _was_ looking at Ronan and _did_ know what ‘like that’ was. She sighed a little, looking between the two of them. “Keep in mind that I’m a professional. Whatever answer you give me, I've heard worse. Okay? So can you tell me the circumstances of the injury?”

“Exactly what you’re implying.” 

Ronan felt like he had like, a head injury or something, and had a hard time keeping up with the conversation up until that. “Oh, we were fucking.”

Adam scoffed, “yeah, that.”

“Mmkay. Mr. Lynch, I do have a concern about possible issues connected to some past events. Do you want to discuss those in private?”

“Nah. He already knows everything anyway.”

She turned back to the computer and pulled up a new window. “Not a problem. I have two different medications here that you have prescriptions for, but I don’t have any records of refills through your designated pharmacy. Are you not taking those?”

“No.”

Her expression didn’t change. It was becoming more and more evident that no matter how Ronan felt about this, this was just a normal part of her job. “May I ask why?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Okay. Do you take anything that isn’t prescribed to you? Prescription or otherwise.” Ronan’s head was blurry and he had trouble figuring out what the meaning behind her words were. 

Adam stepped in to help, “she means drugs, Lynch.”

Oh. “No. I don’t do drugs.”

Adam jumped in again, “he’s not lying, he doesn’t. He doesn’t even drink anymore. Can I ask why this is relevant?”

She was, again, unphased. “With unmedicated mental health issues, I’m wary to prescribe certain painkillers. I’m trying to decide between jumping straight to the less risky meds or having someone from physicactric come down and talk to Mr. Lynch. The choice is his, of course, but I would like to discuss it further to decide on what my advice is.”

“I won’t talk to anyone from psych. I won’t do it.”

“You don’t have to. You have a mild traumatic brain injury, possible trauma to your frontal bone, and almost certainly have trauma to your nasal septum. I’ve already called for another doctor to come in and take a look. You’ll be in a lot of pain for a few days or weeks. Would you like to reconsider?”

“I’d like to go home.”

“It would be better if you would wait until a second opinion comes in just to make sure I’m not missing something more major.”

“Fine,” Ronan spat out, more upset about the prospect of someone from psych coming down than anything else. 

“Great. I’ll leave you two for a few minutes. If you need anything, there should be someone in the hall. Do you have any family you need contacted?”

“No.” She left. Adam kept looking at Ronan, but whenever Ronan looked back Adam tried to play it off like he hadn’t been. “Stop looking at me. You’re the one who said you didn’t want to finish.”

“That’s not what- do you actually think that I- how could you-”

Ronan laughed, trying not to regret it when the pain rippled through his face. “Are you gonna finish a sentence?”

Adam answered with a voice so quiet it should have been a whisper. “I care about you, okay. If sleeping with you meant that we couldn’t be friends anymore, then I would rather never have sex again. I don’t just like you for that. I thought you knew that.” 

“I do. God, I do, I know. I love you, too.” _Shit._ Ronan didn’t mean to say that last part. Was it too much to hope that Adam would assume that it was related to the concussion?

Adam ignored it, of which Ronan was very grateful. 

  
  


***

The doctor’s second opinion agreed with her so he was on his way home by 1AM Saturday morning. He succumbed to sleep almost immediately when they got back to the Barns. Adam had to half-drag him up the staircase. He would have left him on the couch, but Adam decided he needed better sleep than the couch would allow. 

Saturday saw a lot of sleeping for Ronan, a lot of studying for Adam, and a lot of talking for both of them. Adam ignored all of Ronan’s complaints about being bored and brushed off all of Ronan’s claims that his head didn’t hurt. 

Adam spoke up from Ronan’s desk that he’d taken over though the last few months. “I told Gansey what happened.”

“Why the _fuck_ would you tell Dick-”

Adam interrupted, “I told him you have a concussion and a broken nose from an accident. I didn’t tell him how it happened. You aren’t the only one embarrassed about it.”

Ronan rolled his eyes, so Adam considered that conversation done and turned back to his notebook. Ronan caught a glimpse of the back of Adam’s head for the first time. “I thought it didn’t hurt you.”

“Huh?” Adam turned back, seemingly honest in his confusion. Ronan gestured to the same spot on his head. Adam put his hand up to cover the bump. “It’s fine. I didn’t even notice it until I woke up today.”

“Hmm. Whatever.” He did care, but Adam wouldn’t let him, so he pretended he didn’t. “So...we never got to finish what we were doing.”

Adam rolled his shoulders back. “We’re not doing that now. If you wanna get off take care of it yourself.”

Ronan rolled back over to go back to sleep.

****

Ronan rolled out of bed bright and early on Sunday like normal. When he left the bathroom dressed in what Declan would call church-appropriate attire, Adam’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re going to church?”

“Nah, just thought I’d go on a run.” Adam dragged himself out of bed to get dressed, which Ronan wasn’t expecting. “Are you coming?” He made no effort to hide his surprise. 

“I’ll go with, but I’ll hang out upstairs. I’ll start boxing my shit up so we can bring it over before my lease is up. Just give me a minute.”

“Time's a-wastin Parrish. I can’t be late to church, I’m a good Christian boy.”

“We have ten minutes!” Adam shot back as he pulled the bathroom door closed. He still managed to be done in the bathroom in five minutes and made it back to Ronan quickly. He walked down the stairs with Ronan, carefully watching to make sure Ronan wasn’t going to fall. “Can I drive?”

“Think you’ll get too turned on watching me drive?” Ronan asked, kicking lightly at Adam’s ankles while Adam walked in front of him.

“Why are you so sexed up lately?”

“Shut up.”

“I mean seriously, you have to go sit by Matthew and Declan for an hour. If you’re gonna be horny is your church the right place?”

“Shut up.”

Adam did, indeed, drive them. Ronan did not, indeed, try to jump Adam the whole time. When they pulled in, Adam waited to help Ronan make it to his brothers on the off chance that he’d let him help before booking it up to his apartment. Fortunately, said brothers were still in the lot when they pulled in. Unfortunately, Adam hadn’t thought to warn Declan, though Ronan himself thought that that was another fortunate slip up. 

“What the fuck did you do to your face?” Declan asked the second no one else was in earshot. 

“An accident. Fuck off.”

“An accident? Really? I thought we were past this! Who are you even fighting?”

Ronan scoffed. “It wasn’t a fight. I told you it was an accident.”

Declan looked over to Adam, trying to convey some message. For all Ronan knew it meant _tell me what actually happened_ or _can you believe this shit?_ Adam took it as the former. “It wasn’t a fight. It was an accident.”

Declan made a face that was halfway between his normal formal expressions and one that Ronan himself might make before shaking his head. “Are you joining us?”

Adam grabbed Ronan’s hand that was draped over his arm. “Nah, I’m stopping by my apartment. I guess I’ll start packing or something.”

Matthew bounced up, nearly shoving himself in the small gap between Ronan and Adam. “You’ll come to lunch after, though, yeah?”

Adam glanced to Ronan, who kept a straight face, then to Declan, who also kept a straight face. They gave no hints on the right answer. “If you want me to, then yeah, of course Matthew!” Matthew smiled impossibly wider before going back to Declan’s side. Adam left to head upstairs while Matthew dragged his brothers in the other direction.

Church was church. Nothing particularly noteworthy other than the persistent thumping of Ronan’s headache. Usually Ronan was the first out the doors when it finished, but Ronan was still psyching himself up to stand up and walk, leaving them among the stragglers at the end, mostly elderly people and people with a lot of tiny kids. Declan and Matthew both stood at the end of the pew with a few elderly women and Declan kept looking at Ronan like he blamed him for the conversation he was stuck in. After a few minutes of trying to convince himself to stand up, Adam was suddenly there beside him. 

“I thought you were meeting us outside.”

Adam smiled softly, “I was gonna, but Matthew came and said you were still in here.”

“Matthew is right-” Ronan looked over to where his brothers were a few seconds before and found that no one was there. “Oh.” The entire chapel was empty other than the two of them. Ronan pushed himself up, grabbing the back of the pew as he did. 

“You still wanna go out to lunch?”

Ronan grabbed Adam’s hand, leading him out of the church back to the parking lot. “Yes. Do you not want to?”

“If you want to, yeah. I want to be with you.” Ronan snorted at Adam. If Ronan had tried to say something that mushy he wouldn’t have been able to meet Adam’s eyes for days after. Adam didn’t look embarrassed at all. He looked completely sincere. Adam stopped him right at the doors. “I love you, too.” _Oh._ Ronan didn’t know how to handle that particular admission well, so he decided at this moment that he wouldn’t handle it at all. As much as he wanted to kiss Adam right then and there, Adam hadn’t let him kiss him since Saturday night and he didn’t want to get rejected in front of his brothers. 

Lunch was at a covered pavilion near Aglionby where several food trucks were parked. Adam left Ronan at a table with Matthew when he went to one of the trucks to order their food. Declan came back before Adam, which left Ronan with his brothers again. Declan decided to take advantage of Adam’s absence to pester Ronan. “Matthew, go wait for our food,” Matthew looked between the two before running off. “What kind of accident?”

“That’s not your business.”

“That means it’s bad. It’s not like last time? It’s not like that, right? You promised me that wouldn’t happen again.”

Ronan was honestly surprised. “I said that wouldn’t happen. I couldn’t do that to Matthew.” He dropped his voice lower, “I can’t have Adam find my body like that.”

Declan didn’t seem to be done bothering him, yet. “Does this have to do with Adam?”

“He didn’t do anything.” 

“He acts like he feels guilty. And he’s got a bump on his head that looks around the same age. Figured it might be related.” Ronan didn’t feel like dealing with Declan anymore, but if he tried to leave Adam would worry. 

Adam made it back and Declan perked up, “Adam, how’s your head feel?”

Adam pulled his eyebrows up, eyes shooting to Ronan, “you _told him_?”

Declan answered instead. “No. He didn’t tell me anything, but your response leads me to believe I was right in assuming it's your fault.”

“It was my fault, but I didn’t mean to do it!” Adam clamped his mouth shut, having said more than he meant to.

Declan started to say something, but Ronan tuned him out. “It _wasn’t_ your fault. You didn’t do it.”

“I _did_ do it! I don’t understand why you won’t admit that it was my fault.”

Declan managed to butt in. “What _e_ _xactly_ happened?”

Adam said, “an accident” the same time that Ronan bit out “ _not your fucking business_.” No one said anything for three long seconds. They were saved by Matthew’s return to the table. 

The rest of the lunch went smoothly, and Declan offered to collect Adam’s boxes from Adam’s apartment for him. Normally he would refuse, but he was hesitant to leave Ronan, so he agreed. Declan left alone about 20 minutes before the other three did, then Adam drove Matthew and Declan back to the Barns. Declan showed up a few minutes before them and by the time Ronan and Adam made it inside, Adam’s boxes were removed from Declan’s car and piled in the front room. Declan was sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop out on the side and a few papers in front of him.

Matthew walked over to Declan who had an unidentifiable expression on his face. “Watcha reading?”

Declan turned the papers over, leaving them face down on the table. “Nothing. Are you ready?” He closed his laptop and started to shove it into his bag. Matthew lunged across the table to snatch up the papers and went running back to Ronan, who he obviously trusted to be a good block from his oldest brother. “Adam, it’s Ronan’s discharge paperwork.”

Matthew didn’t have time to try to run again and Ronan didn’t have time to process what the problem was, but Adam was fast, both in deciphering Declan’s meaning and in grabbing the papers back from Matthew. “How much of this did you read?”

Declan put his hands up at chest level, palms facing Adam, a movement that seemed to correspond with the words _please I’m innocent_ . “All of it.” Suddenly Ronan could place Declan’s expression when they walked in. He was _embarrassed._ He kept looking between Ronan and Adam, specifically Ronan’s face and the back of Adam’s head, and seemed to be confirming what he’d read on the paperwork. 

Ronan flushed. “Out, get out, get out, out.” He lurched forward, swatting at Declan as he ran out the door. Matthew opened his mouth to speak, but Ronan didn’t let him ask. “You don’t want to know.” Matthew closed his mouth, then hugged Ronan. He fist bumped Adam before changing his mind and pulling him in for a hug instead, then he was gone out the front door with Declan. 

Adam put the paperwork back down on the table. “It’s what he gets for being so nosy.”

**Author's Note:**

> For those who needed the injury details, Ronan receives minor head trauma from the back of Adam's head, leading to a broken nose and concussion.
> 
> Also, I'm considering doing a second piece to go with this one. Cause, lets be real, the first time either of them are anywhere near Fox Way, they'd know. If you'd be interested, let me know. Might also explore a bit more of Adam's hesitance to have sex again, cause we all gotta admit that Adam would have some problems with it the first time they do it again. Again, let me know what you think.


End file.
